The Mission
by senoritaxtee
Summary: Evelynn is a former student of Professor Charles Xavier's school. She has been recruited by SHIELD for a special mission alongside the Avengers. In true Nicholas Fury style, it has all been "compartmentalized" and the Avengers believe her cover of being sent to re-acquaint Captain Rogers with the world. Her cover mission is soon complicated as old enemies resurface Rogers/OFC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Marvel characters, Avengers, X-men or other references made throughout the story.

**Plot:** X-men/Avengers crossover. Rogers/OC Evelynn is a telepath and former student of Professor Charles Xavier's school. Despite a troubled past, she has been recruited by SHIELD for a special mission alongside the Avengers. In true Nicholas Fury style, it has all been "compartmentalized" and the Avenger's do not know her true mission but believe her cover of being sent to re-acquaint Captain Rogers with the world. Her cover mission goes smoothly until some old enemies of both parties resurface…

**Rating: **PG-13

**Pairing: **Steve Rogers/OC

**Status: **In progress…

Prologue:

[A/n] Set after the Avenger's movie but before Iron Man 3 or Captain America 2.

"They want me to come in, Charles," Evelynn whispered to the grave stone. "I think they're worried I might fall into old habits. They don't see the good in me like you did." She ran her hands through her dark chestnut hair. "I wish you were here to give me advice. I feel lost."

"Hey, kid," Logan walked up behind her and clasps his hands on her shoulders. "Bike's ready whenever you are." Logan had offered to drive her to NYC, where she was meant to meet her new boss. Logan didn't trust the guy, and frankly Evelynn didn't either. It was always hard to trust someone who had previously tried to kill you.

"You know, Logan, I'm no kid anymore. I'm almost 26," Evelynn quipped, picked up her backpack and followed Logan to the garage. Logan handed her the extra helmet but did not don his own as he swung his leg over the bike. She followed suit and wrapped her arms around his waist. When the bike started, Evelynn squeezed a little tighter. She didn't mind motorcycles, per se, but Logan had a tendency to drive a little recklessly. He was practically indestructible and tended to forget that others may not be.

There was a silver table in the middle of the room and Evelynn sat flatfooted on the chair facing the darkened one-way mirror. Evelynn perused through the files as she waited for Director Fury to grace her with his presence. There were three SHIELD agents in the room, armed and staring at her intently. They probably didn't have the clearances to even know _why_ someone like her would need so much added security. Fury really didn't trust her. _Well at least the feeling was mutual._

"Interesting that you call me in," she stated, nonchalantly as Fury entered. "Why not call the X-men in if your precious Avengers really can't handle them?"

"Sometimes the fewer people you have to micromanage, the better."

"So why me?"

"Call it a hunch that you need something to distract you," Fury responded. "Couldn't have you messing up Storm's classes now that Charles is dead."

"I would never insult his memory like that and you know it," Evelynn scowled. After a moment, she relaxed. "You know my past, you know my, _talent_, shall we say? If you don't tell me what I want to know I can just _find out_."

"That is why we need you on this mission." Fury smirked.

"And the Avenger's know nothing about this?" Fury shook his head. "Do I have a cover as to why I'm in the Stark Tower with all of the Avengers?"

Fury pushed an additional file across the table. It was much older than the others and was marked "Steve Rogers, Captain America." She nodded in understanding.

I'm a huge Disney nerd and a Marvel fan. See if you can catch all of my Disney references throughout the story. ;)

**Chapter One:**

"Exactly how many martial arts do you know?" Steve asked, incredulously.

"I dunno," Evelynn shrugs. "I had a lot of time on my hands while I tried to figure out my life. I'm a fast learner, too, which helps—it was for self-defense really. I used to be a target for mugging and bullies in the streets of a big city, had to figure out a way to make them stop…" she paused, only about half of it was a lie, "and running isn't the answer. 'Cause…"

"Once you start running, they don't let you stop." Rogers finished her thought.

Evelynn forced a smile. She was lost in his eyes for a moment, perhaps a moment too long. She finally caught herself staring and cleared her throat. "So, um, Stark Towers, huh?"

"Stark Towers." Steve concluded.

"And Captain America, a soldier out of time." She pointed. Steve nodded.

"And you're the new recruit for SHIELD?"

Again she shrugs. "I guess so. I don't think they'd let me live in the Stark Towers with "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" if I wasn't assigned to some department in SHIELD."

"You have an assignment already?" Steve shifted uneasily. The notion of a beautiful dame having an assignment wasn't what bothered him; rather, he had been talking to her for almost an hour and he hadn't made a fool of himself yet.

Evelynn winked. "Classified."

Tony Stark entered the communal kitchen with all of his playboy billionaire swagger as usual. "Ah, Ms. Evelynn, so glad you could join us for some fun. I was reading up on your profile," he swiped his hand across the StarkPad and projected her SHIELD file onto the glass windows around the room. "How is at Mr. Xavier's School for 'gifted youngsters'?"

"_Professor_ Charles Xavier was an amazing, intelligent man who has helped many students in my position. I am grateful for all that he did for me."

"He has a funny definition of _gifted._"

Evelynn tensed up. She wasn't ready to have this conversation with her newfound friends. Besides, Fury didn't want her revealing it until they had more information about _them_. Carefully she countered, "How do you mean?"

"He didn't think I was gifted."

A wave of relief washed over her. If Tony Stark knew her secret, he wasn't about to spill it, at least not yet. "Of course, everything has to be about you."

Tony Stark smirked. "But of course." Waving his hands in the air, he continued to scroll through Evelynn's file projected on the windows. Evelynn dropped her gaze, acutely aware of Steve's eyes on her. He wasn't staring, per se, but calculating. "Hmm, what's this?" Evelynn's head shot up and panic coursed through her. "Who are the X-men?"

Luckily, she had been briefed by Fury about this and had a perfect series of responses so as not to give away her position. Fury didn't 100% trust her or her kind and she was under strict orders to not blow her own cover. "A response team similar to the Avengers. But not as…_diverse_ shall we say. More like with

Natasha's skillset." It was a blatant lie, but it got him off her back.

"So Mr. Xavier…"

"Professor," she corrected, heatedly. She didn't like where this conversation was going and she had no way to change the subject without seeming suspicious.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tony dismissed her correction and continued to sweep through her file. "He had a school to create an army of super soldiers?"

That got Steve's attention. Evelynn crossed her arms defensively. "No. I can't tell you more. It's classified."

"Hmm, nothing is classified in SHIELD," he hummed to himself, which confused Evelynn immensely.

"Tony means that he can break into every bit of information SHIELD has," Steve explained.

"My, my," Tony spread his hand to zoom in. "What is a _mutant_?"

"Mutation is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. The process is slow, and normally takes thousands and thousands of years. But every few millennia, evolution leaps forwards." _And that's why we have this school to foster our own kind and protect humanity_, Evelynn finished the speech that she heard so many times from her mentor.

"Did you rehearse that with Fury?" Tony smirks.

"No, it was something that I…read….while at school with Charles," Evelynn lied.

"So basically, Charles Xavier took a bunch of circus freaks and turned them into a super team of assassins."

"We weren't assassins. We were fighting the good fight. Professor X believed in a better world."

"So did HYDRA," Tony countered. "Sound likes to me that he was no better than Schmidt."

Evelynn jumped to her feet. "That's not true. You can't make accusations about a man you never knew. Charles Xavier was a great man, far better than you could ever hope to be."

_My god. Don't shoot_. Evelynn hears Pepper's sporadic and panicked thoughts. She was immediately aware of the guns pointed at Tony Stark. The Iron Man suit, sans the man inside, was aiming its hand guns at Tony's chest. "JARVIS, shut down the suit."

"I'm sorry, sir, my systems have been over-ridden."

"By whom?"

"Ms. Evelynn," the robotic voice responded.

Another gun was loaded, but this one was pointed directly at Evelynn. "Listen, Miss," Steve's soft demeanor had immediately changed into his Captain-in-command voice. "Drop the weapons…and stop," he fumbled, clearly not used to dealing with this particular situation. And, of course, how could he be? Mutants were few and far between in his era and those that were alive, were in hiding. "Stop over-riding JARVIS."

Tears streamed down her cheeks. Evelyn repeated, "Professor X was an extraordinary man." Subconsciously, she cocked the gun. "You would have been lucky to have met him. He was betrayed by a friend and killed. He died believing in a better world."

"Miss, I'll ask you again. Put the gun down."

"Director Fury is going to be so angry with me," she concluded softly and the hum of the Iron Man suit subsided. The gun floated across the room into the hand of Captain America. Evelynn raised her hands into the air in a lazy surrender. Her instincts kicked in, instincts she had under control since she was a teenager, almost a decade prior. Without warning, Captain America's shield was in her hand and she bolted for her rented room.

Pepper stalled Steve Rogers. "No, don't. She's scared." Pepper didn't want to explain that she had heard Evelynn's voice in her head. "She won't steal your shield for good." Pepper assured him.

Steve turned his attention onto Tony. "Is everything a joke to you?" He checked that the gun was loaded. "JARVIS, a location on Ms. Evelynn please."

"Ms. Evelynn is in her room. Your shield is outside of her door." Steve nodded and headed towards the room. When he arrived outside of Evelynn's room, he stopped dead in his tracks. His shield was actually _floating_ outside of the door. Hesitantly, he leaned against the door, gun at the ready. He pressed his ear against the door to hear the young woman sobbing. He lowered his weapon and knocked tentatively on the door.

"Miss, it's Captain Rogers. May I come in?"

"I'm so sorry." Evelynn appeared at the door, her eyes puffy from crying. "Your shield. I was scared. I haven't lost control of my mutation like that since I was a teenager." She eyed his gun. "Please don't shoot. I won't hurt you, I promise." Steve tentatively holstered his gun and walked into the small room. Behind him his shield followed and landed softly near his feet.

"Tony can be a jerk sometimes," Steve said cautiously.

"I shouldn't have pulled his own super-suit on him."

Steve smirked. "Nah, he had that one coming." Evelynn raised her green eyes to him and giggled softly. "So…"

"I'm here because you and I have much in common. I have nobody. You have nobody. I'm lost, you're lost. Fury thought that we would help each other." Evelynn blurted out so quickly that Steve could barely make out all of the words. She lowered her eyes. "And the last time I was lost like this, I was on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. I think he doesn't want that again."

Steve listened. Talking to women was hard enough without them being like _her_. He didn't know what to say to her. Luckily for him, she felt as though she needed to explain further. "Tony struck a chord. When I first found out about my mutation, my family disowned me. They _donated_ me, for lack of better words, to an institution for scientific research. Long story short, I ended up on the run for 3 years before Charles and his X-men took me in. He was like a father to me and he was genuinely one of the most honorable men I knew."

"Mutation?"

"I'm a telepath. I can control things with my mind. I read minds too. If I get drunk I have a hard time controlling myself and tend to invade other's privacy. I actually read Pepper's mind, which was how I discovered that I had pointed the guns at Mr. Stark because people think really loudly when they're scared or angry." Evelynn paused for a moment. "I won't read your mind unless you want me to."

"So are all of the "gifted youngsters" like you?" Evelynn could tell he was uneasy about the topic, and why shouldn't he be?

"With mutations, you mean? Yes. As telepaths? No. I know a girl who can walk through walls, a boy who controls ice, and I used to know a man who could regenerated his cells faster than any human being. He, like me, was experimented on and has adamantium claws because he's basically indestructible. Actually, he's quite out of time, just like yourself."

"How do you….um…?

"Become a mutant?" Evelynn supplied for him. "You can't _catch_ it, don't worry. It's genetic, passed down from the father's genes onto the children. Most mutations don't appear until early teens. Some families are more receiving than mine was."

"I'm sorry."

She was grateful that he didn't pry further about why she was on SHIELD's radar or her mission. There was a long silence. Steve stared at her intensely, and it was driving her crazy not knowing what he was thinking. It was so tempting to read his mind. Finally he spoke, "I know what it's like to lose everyone you love. It's hard, miss, but it makes us stronger for it."

_Spoken like a true leader._ And without warning, she broke down. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her body shook violently. Steve panicked. Hesitantly he reached out to hug her into his arms. She nuzzled her head into his chest, her sobs starting to subdue. Steve rubbed his hand on her back, the warmth radiating through her clothes.

Before Steve could offer any words of comfort or she could explain further, JARVIS's voice echoed through the room. "Captain Rogers, the director is outside of the room requesting entry."

"Send him in." Director Fury, entered the room to see Evelynn and Rogers standing in each other's arms.

"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" His monotone voice reflected no real apology. "You were under strict orders to _not_ allow them to know about your mutation."

"Tony found her out." Captain Rogers defended.

"Silence, soldier."

Evelynn wiped her eyes and twisted in Steve's arms to face her new director. _I thought you said this would be an easy mission. You didn't tell me that Tony Stark was such an ass._

"Captain Rogers, you are dismissed. Go to your room and you will be briefed momentarily by Agent Hill," Much to her dismay, Steve relinquished his protective hold on her and walked to his room on the next floor. Once he was gone, Director Fury walked over to the desk and sat backwards on the wooden chair, propping his elbows on its back and eying Evelynn carefully. "You and I both know why this mission is so important. You said I could trust you."

"You can," Evelynn protested. "I lost control. I wasn't prepared for Tony Stark's jabs. And he was searching through my file. I didn't know how much you had in there. I thought nothing of it at first because you said it was classified and then Steve—er—Captain Rogers stated that Tony could hack into your system. I panicked. Won't happen again. I won't jeopardize the mission."

"The more elusive and classified details are safely filed under a _different name_," Fury stated lowly. "There is no mention of your _other name,_ shall we stay, under the X-men. Tony may be a genius, but he needs all of the variables to figure out a puzzle."

"So what now?"

"We will brief the Avenger's on your mutation and your mission."

"The real one?" Director Fury shot her a glare. Sometimes she thought that his glares were even more menacing since he was missing an eye. "Oh I guess that wouldn't make sense. But if…." Evelynn chose her next words carefully, knowing that JARVIS could be listening and reporting to Tony. "…_they_ do attack, wouldn't it make more sense for the Avenger's to know?"

"That is not for you to decide." _Your secrets have secrets, _Evelynn thought, _no wonder nobody trusts you._

"Since my cover is blown…"

"We stick to the original plan."


	2. Chapter 2

Four heavy bags lay splattered on the floor. Steve was in the basement jabbing furiously at yet another heavy bag. He was so focused on the bag and lost in concentration of his war memories that he did not see Evelynn enter the room. He threw a hard right uppercut and sent the bag flying across the room. He turned and picked up another bag. "Ma'am," he nodded in her direction as he set up the next bag.

She approached him slowly as he started punching away at the next bag. His classic SSR shirt displayed his muscles nicely. "You know many people consider you _The First Avenger_," she spoke softly, eyes never tearing away from his perfectly toned body. Steve grunted in reply, having nothing else to say. She was trying to flirt with him, which made him uncomfortable. Evelynn climbed in between the ropes onto the boxing ring and sat on the corner post, well out of the way for the heavy bag, should Steve battered another one.

His phone rang. Steve paused in his punches to pick up the call. The screen was cracked but Tony Stark didn't want to give him yet _another_ phone until he fully understood this one. He had broken fourteen of them so far, mostly out of frustration. "Hello?" he furrowed his brow, confused as to why he couldn't hear anyone on the other end. "Hello?"

"You need to swipe you finger across the green blinking circle," Evelynn prompted, but it was already too late. Steve had missed the call.

"Back in my day, you just picked up the phone and you could hear people on the other line," he muttered and returned to his heavy bag.

"Who was it?"

Steve looked back at her, incredulously. "I couldn't answer it. I did have a chance to talk to whoever it was."

Evelynn giggled. "You really are out of time. Do you have people in your contacts?" She waited for a reply but received only another confused stare. "Can I see your phone?" Steve began to walk back over to the phone, but Evelynn pulled it to her telepathically. "It was Pepper," she concluded. "If it was super important, then she will call back or use JARVIS to contact us."

"Do you ever feel…um…I'm sorry if I seem forward, Ms. Evelynn, but weird because of…uh…?"

"You're cute when you stammer. Yes, sometimes. But thankfully, my mutation is easier to hide than some. One of the students at the school, his name is Kurt, and he is blue, literally. And has a tail. Kinda harder to fit into society that way."

"Well the American people have allowed blacks to vote and eat in the same diners as the whites. Women vote too. Maybe it's just a matter of time before mutants are accepted into society."

"That's what Professor Charles believed in. Unfortunately many others didn't. His long-time friend Magneto lived through Germany during WWII and was in a concentration camp because he was Jewish. He was different and feared that society would never accept his mutation because of his past with the Nazis. So he's kinda a bad guy."

Steve grabbed his water bottle and walked over to the ropes of the boxing ring where Evelynn was sitting. He leaned on it. "He was in Germany while I was there."

"Probably, yes." Silence fell between the two. Evelynn shifted on her perch on the wooden post and Steve readjusted his position leaning on the ropes. He looked up and caught her staring, to which she immediately averted her gaze.

"I don't think you're weird," Steve blurted out. _Damn, I was doing so well not making a fool of myself._ "I…uh…I mean…sorry. You're a beautiful dame—er—lady."

"I've got a lot of moxie?"

"That's not how you use that," Steve pouted and Evelynn apologized.

"You've asked me a lot of questions. Mind if I ask you one?" Steve shrugged nonchalantly. "You're super serum…it enhances, everything?"

Steve nodded in affirmation. "I can't get drunk. I heal faster than most humans. I'm faster and stronger than the average Joe."

"And your stamina?" Steve looked confused. Hadn't he just answered that question? "Sorry. That was completely out of line. You don't have to answer that question." Steve ice blue eyes widened and a blush crept up his cheeks and flushed through his ears. Idly, Evelynn began to play with her own dog-tags having thoroughly embarrassed both herself and the Captain. She would not be able to complete her mission if he shut her out because of her lack of composure.

"Were you given the dog-tags as part of the X-men?"

"Actually. These were from William Striker's facility when I was experimented on," before Steve could ask, she continued. "It's a weird sentiment to keep wearing them. I can't quite explain it. Makes for a good conversation piece though." Steve smiled. "You really are the poster boy for America. Everything about you is perfect, right down to your smile." Again Steve blushed.

"Did you really come down here to pay me compliments?"

"And flirt with you?" Evelynn winked. "Not _just_ to do that. Although you must admit it is an added bonus. I'm here to apologize for yesterday, and offer a peace offering. I haven't really had time to process everything that happened recently with the X-men and Magento and now SHIELD and Tony had brought up some feelings I wasn't ready for. You were really endearing when you came to my room, more endearing and sincere than any regular human has ever treated me after finding out that I'm a mutant. I'd like to pay it forward with some coffee…or ice cream…" she trailed off.

"I'm not a regular human though," Steve conceded.

Evelynn shrugged. "The serum enhanced your physical state, but deep down you and I know you're a good man. That means so much more than any super suit or lightning rod can. So coffee?"

Steve smiled and it practically melted Evelynn's heart. He hadn't been called a good man since before the procedure. "Coffee."

Steve pulled out the chair for Evelynn, a chivalrous but old-fashioned gesture that made her blush. "What would you like?"

"I think you misunderstand 'paying it forward,' Steve. I'm meant to buy you the drink, not the other way around."

"In my time, a gentleman always paid for a lovely lady's food."

"Ah, but this is just coffee, not food."

"I insist." Evelynn consented and in a few minutes Steve returned with two cups of coffee. He placed one in front of her and took a sip of his own before sitting down.

Although Evelynn thought that Tony Stark would avoid her indefinitely, or at the very least tread more lightly, he did neither. She walked into the communal kitchen and fixed herself a drink. "So, how does it all work then?"

"All…ow! What the hell was that for?" Tony Stark had jabbed her. "You stabbed me with a fork!" She shouted in disbelief.

"Does that send you into overdrive? Huh, didn't work on Bruce either. Maybe if it was charged," he mused to himself. "So how does it work? Do you get angry and rage out your feelings by pointing people's guns in their faces with your mind?"

"Are you looking for an apology?"

"Steve got one." Immediately, Evelynn felt betrayed knowing that Steve told Tony Stark of all people.

"Actually I'm looking for an explanation. Captain Popsicle has the super serum, Bruce has the gamma rays, and I, well," he smirked to himself. "I am a genius. So I'll ask you again. How does it work?"

"It's all genetics. Passed down from father to children. I am one of many. Because it's based on genetics, they are hundreds of different types of mutations."

"And SHIELD wants to turn the Avenger's into a freak show?"

Evelynn scowled. She wasn't sure why she expected him to understand, maybe because he had such a reputation for his intelligence. Or maybe she thought he would understand because even Captain America understood. "I don't know what SHIELDs plans are for mutants. Right now it's just me." It wasn't a lie.

"Ah, good. I'd hate to be renting out my tower to a bunch of circus performers." Evelynn clenched her fists.

"Tony, do you ever learn your lesson?" Steve walked into the kitchen and headed straight to the fridge. He pulled out the carton of milk and poured himself a glass. "Honestly, I don't think I'd protect you should she pull out her powers on you again. If you're gonna poke the lion make sure you're able to handle the repercussions."

Tony mock saluted the Captain and walked out of the room, he whispered to Evelynn as he passed, "I'm not the one who should be worrying about repercussions. SHIELD can't hide things from me for very long and the Captain doesn't take well to liars." Evelynn wasn't sure if he was bluffing or not.

Evelynn thanked the captain quietly for intervening. "Doing my duty, miss. I don't want you to bring down the building either."

"Ah, so the noble Captain America isn't always so selfless."

"I've almost died once saving my country. I would repeat it in a heartbeat, but…" he trailed off.

"But…?" she prompted.

"I don't know if I'm prepared to die in a building that a mutant brings down because of Tony Stark's arrogance."

"Wow, when you put it like that I sound like an ass."

Steve blushed. "My apologies, miss, it was more of a jab at Tony than at you." Steve stood across from Evelynn at the island. He propped himself up on his elbows, his half drank milk next to him. Evelynn lazily trailed her index finger around the rim of her glass, staring off into space before drawing the glass to her lips. The super-soldier watched her as she drank more of her alcohol. He took in her olive skin and green eyes, her chestnut hair pulled back into a messy braid, her luscious lips and her bosom… _I don't like being oogled, Captain. _Captain Rogers jumped back in surprise. Evelynn smirked.

"Sorry. You're cute when you're startled though."

"You can talk to me through your mind powers?"

"I can do an immense number of things with my mind. But I can't set anything on fire though or create things out of thin air. Manipulating AIs like JARVIS is difficult, but not impossible. I also find the more stressful a situation is the more I am capable of, although sometimes I cannot recreate the results when calm. Professor Xavier always used to say that true focus lay somewhere between serenity and rage. Unfortunately I was never quite proficient at that."

"It sounds like Professor Xavier knew his stuff," the captain mumbled to himself. Evelynn smiled.

"He was brilliant in ways even I don't always understand."


	3. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""You didn't choose your mutation, did you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn looked up from her StarkPad. "It doesn't work like that, Cap. It has to do with genes."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""So if you were to have children…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn's eyes widen. She hadn't thought about that in a long, long time. It never seemed plausible before with being on the run, then attending Charles' school, then all of this. It might be nice though…maybe. "I never really thought about it," she confessed. "But, yes, if I had children, they would probably be mutants. Because I'm a woman though and the mutant gene is actually passed down by the male's genes, if my husband was say, normal, I would have a good chance of having normal children."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""And you want normal children?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn shrugged, returning her gaze to the Pad. "I'm not sure I want children at all. This is the first time I ever thought about it to be honest. When I turned 16, I was on the run, then Professor X took me in, and living in the X-mansion doesn't give you a whole lot of time to plan for the future. The world is filled with nasty people, and all of the people I've encountered have tried to kill me on at least one occasion."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I didn't."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn glanced up again. She pressed two fingers to her temple./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em/"Listen, Miss…" "Drop the weapons…and stop over-riding JARVIS." "Miss I'll ask you again, put the weapons down." "Drop the weapons…" "Miss, I'll ask you again…" "Stop over-riding JARVIS…""Listen, Miss…"/em Steve's words echoed throughout the room. Bewildered, he glanced around feeling guilty./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Defensively, Steve countered, "You put me in that position."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Tony Stark put you in that position."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""At least you were born with your powers. You are actually extraordinary. Everything special about me came out of a bottle," Steve changed the subject./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"She closed the tabs on the StarkPad and stood up. She walked over to the sofa where Steve was sitting. "I don't believe that. And neither should you." She knelt in from of him and placed her palms on either side of his face. "Just try to relax. And don't push me out."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I wouldn't push a lady."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn smirked. /emChivalry is sometimes dead when I enter people's minds./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Steve felt a surge wash over his brain as she searched for a memory. He watched as the small room came into view with the clear view of the sign "It is illegal to falsify your enlistment form." A scrawny blonde man sat on the table. A gentleman in a white lab coat appeared just as Steve was putting on his boots to leave. "Do you want to kill Nazis?" "Is this a test?" he replied. "Yes," the doctor smiled. "I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies, I don't care where they're from."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em/One more,/ /emEvelynn's soft voice echoed against his subconscious. /emDon't push me out./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"The memory faded and Steve was transported to another realm of his subconscious. Dr. Erskine sat across from his scrawny former self. "Whatever happens tomorrow, promise me one thing, that you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn pulled away from his memories, her hands lingering on either side of his face, not touching. She opened her eyes slowly to meet his. "The only thing special that came out of the bottle, Captain, is your physique."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"He reached up and clasped his hands around hers. "Thank you." He was surprised that the thanks came from her not him. "It's a privilege to see those memories."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"***/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"In classic Tony Stark style, nothing in the Tower was small. Even still, the violent push that Tony had given Evelynn knocked her directly into Steve's chest. His strong arms caught her and steadied her back onto her feet. Outside of the door, she heard a faint click of Tony locking them in. He ordered JARVIS to set a timer for seven minutes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn inhaled deeply. "So…" she flattened her hands against his chest, smoothing out the fabric of his shirt against it. Nervously she continued, "Tony has a timer set via JARVIS, so we're stuck in here for the next seven minutes."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"The closet was dark and she couldn't make out all of Steve's expressions. "Tony thinks he's funny."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn hummed in agreement. "Yes, well…" she slipped her hands up under his shirt to feel his warm, toned skin beneath her fingertips. She captured his lips in hers. Tentatively, Steve open his mouth to hers and kissed her back. She bit his bottom lip playfully and Steve failed to suppress his moans. "Shh," she cooed. "Tony will never let us life this down if we're loud." As she spoke she undid the buckle of his belt and tossed it on the ground./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Steve braced his arms on either side of Evelynn's face, effectively pinning her between him and the door. She slipped her hands into his pants and he let out another soft moan. Steve nuzzled her neck and repressed a shutter as her hands gently stroked him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"He pulled her face towards his and captured her lips once more in a desperate and hungry kiss. She smirked against his lips and continued to rub her hands against him. As she circled her hands around him, giving light strokes, she felt another presence./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Her eyes shot open. "Steve, Tony is outside of the closet," she whispered, repositioning herself to face the door. Steve repressed a shudder as her ass rubbed against his crotch. As the door creaked open, Tony's disappointed face greeted them. "Hoping to catch us in the act?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I just cannot believe that you and Captain America can be stuck in a closet for seven minutes and still have both your clothes on." Evelynn glanced sideways at the belt sitting on the floor. With her powers she slowly buttoned up Steve's pants./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Tony, my tolerance for your arrogance not-withstanding, should you ever come between me and kissing Captain Rogers again, I will have you believing you're a six-year-old girl."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Tony eyed her curiously, "You can do that?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Shutting the door of the closet with a wave of her wrist, she called through the closet. "I'll have Pepper braid your hair." She turned around to face Steve again, her body rubbing against his. Steve moaned. She reached up and gently pulled Steve back to her lips. She trailed kisses along his jawline…/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Did we win?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Win what?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""The game."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I get the feeling you're not enjoying yourself, Captain." Even in the darkness, Evelynn could tell that he was blushing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I…uh…it's just that I thought we…er…you don't have to stay in here with me if we won…I mean…this is swell…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn rolled her eyes. His chivalry was always getting the best of him, no wonder Tony picked on him so much. "Swell? How do you mean 'swell'?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Y'know…swell…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"***/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emShe lay awake on the hard metal table, the lights shining brightly in her eyes. She was drugged, again, and groggy. A team of doctors bustled about around her. It was day eight? Nine? She had lost count. The drone of the machines beeped and buzzed in the background. Her head was strapped into place, not allowing her to see anything other than the ceiling and her limited peripherals. Her hands were placed in cuffs and her feet were strapped into stirrups. A cool metal bar held her stomach in place against the metal table. All of this for /emtheir emsafety of course./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emA tingling sensation coursed through her veins as a young doctor pumped yet another fluid into her body. On her left a second doctor drew more blood. The first doctor checked her vitals and then pressed on the bruises on her stomach, feeling for anything out of place. She wanted to cry out in pain but she couldn't find her voice./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emWilliam Striker entered the room and peered over her, his frown evident. He whispered to one of the doctors about not needing her genes any more. They had found something better, more powerful so preservation was no longer necessary. Fear coursed through her. What would they do to her now?/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em"Doctor, I believe you wanted to use some of my specimens as part of your research in unlocking that serum?" Striker motioned towards the teenager on the bed. "She would be a prime specimen. And when we're done with Mutant 43 and her healing powers, you can use her for your cancer research as well."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"em /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emA young doctor with glasses peered over her. She wanted to protest as he pursed a needle through her arm plunging her back into darkness./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"***/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"No one was in the Tower. Pepper was out running Tony's company for him, and Tony was out being, well Tony. Evelynn hadn't seen him since yesterday. Although the Stark Expo was fast approaching, so there was always the possibility that he was being somewhat responsible and helping Pepper plan for it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Steve was out and about as well, leaving Evelynn completely by herself in the Tower. Well, unless you count JARVIS. She wrapped her wrists with Everlast boxing wraps and headed down to the gym. She wouldn't be able to do the damage that Captain Rogers was capable of against the heavy bag, but staying on top of her martial arts training would help keep her alive. Unlike many of her peers, her mutation was not the most helpful in battle. It just wasn't as offensive as a mutation such as Ice-Man's, so having an extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand combat came in handy./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""You need to re-chamber your kicks," a monotone feminine voice stated, watching as Evelynn kicked the bag. "If you leave your leg out like that someone will grab it." Evelynn turned to face Natasha./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Thanks," she replied to the SHIELD agent. She threw another roundhouse kick. "Better?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Natasha hums. "You'll get there. Just remember you want to protect your knee. I'd break your leg easily if you kicked liked that and didn't re-chamber."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I'll keep it in mind. So, what do I owe the pleasure?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""They're planning to re-establish the Brotherhood," Natasha eyed her new comrade cautiously, gauging her reactions to all of the information. Fury still didn't trust her as she proved quite a headache for SHIELD before officially enrolling in Xavier's school. "Thoughts?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I don't know. It would depend on how many mutants they actually rally to their cause. There will always be mutants who feel persecuted and need to rally against humanity. It also depends on who is rallying them."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Loki is."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""I hope he's lying to them about being a demi-god. Being led by a demi-god might stir some discontent amongst many of them but…being a mutant they'd probably accept and kneel before him…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""He'd enjoy that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn hummed in agreement. "Well you said Loki was all bark but no real bite at the battle of New York."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Natasha smirked. "He's a great visionary, fueled by…what did he call it? Ah, glorious purpose… but Loki as a strategic war-lord, not so much."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""His file says he manipulates people quite well though," Evelynn pointed out./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Natasha nodded. "Yes. But when the Chitauri came to Earth via the Tesseract, he just let them do their thing. He gave no orders, he just assumed that because of their supreme status that they would wipe out the Avengers and any human that stood in his way."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Huh."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;""Also, the Hulk smashed him up pretty badly with almost no effort."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"Evelynn smiled. "I would have paid to see that."/p 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Of bullies, memories and mutants**

Tony Stark had left out for the day. He was in the dog-house with Pepper again and Evelynn had suggested that he take her out to try to win her over. But as the two of them were leaving, she could tell that it wouldn't be an entirely pleasant afternoon. Tony had messed up royally, which was saying a lot because he was the king of pissing Pepper off. If he wasn't making some snide remark about his gallivanting or making her worry sick while he partied in his Iron Man suit above the territory of two warring nations, he was giving her 12% of the credit she deserved on projects she did for his company. Evelynn couldn't imagine what he did this time to piss her off so badly.

As the heated couple stormed out of the apartment, Evelynn took her standard issue StarkPad up to the island in the kitchen. Steve Rogers was sitting on one of the bar stools, drawing lazily. "You're really good." Steve smiled in thanks. Evelynn sat down next to him and pulled up a game of minesweeper on the Pad. "Who is that?"

"Bucky. He was my best friend, and more like a brother to me."

"You must miss him." Steve nodded.

"Do you ever miss your family?" Steve asked her as he continued to draw. As Evelynn responded, she didn't look up from her minesweeper game either.

"Nope. They gave up on me, so I gave up on missing them. I have a new family now….well what's left of it. It's really just me and Storm and sometimes Logan."

"I think your family would regret having given up on you if they saw you today."

"Doubt it."

"Why?"

"Because they had a perfectly normal child to dote upon. I doubt they even remember me. When I went to visit their house after escaping from the lab, all traces of them having a daughter had vanished. There were no pictures of me, no records, nothing. They were perfectly happy without me. I was so angry and hurt."

"They didn't know what they're missing."

"I'm glad you think so, but my brother is a poster child of normal. He's wildly successful and the only reason that they're still alive." She muttered the last part under her breath.

"Did he save their lives somehow? Is he a doctor?" _Damn, forgot about the super hearing from that stupid serum. It's just like hanging around with Logan. Gotta keep my thoughts to myself and not mutter anything under my breath._

"You don't wanna know." She protested.

"If I didn't wanna know, I wouldn't have asked, miss."

Evelynn crossed her arms over her chest, defiantly. "Maybe I don't wanna tell you."

"Why not?"

"I was never a goody-two-shoes like you, Mr. "I'm Captain America and I am the pinnacle of honesty and righteousness." I told you I was on SHIELDs radar in a bad way. And they were part of it."

"You…killed your parents?" Steve asked incredulously. The disappointment in his eyes, despite it being unjustified, was piercing straight through her.

"No, Steve! Weren't you listening?" She threw her hands up in the air. "The only redeeming quality about my past is that I chose _not_ to kill them because I saw how happy my little brother was. I didn't want to take away his family because he deserved better even though they deserved far worse. So the only reason they're still alive is because I couldn't bear to have him suffer any hardships of life without a family like I had to." She was practically shouting. "They were the only mission I ever failed."

"Mission?"

"I told you," Evelynn looked away, completely ashamed. "I was on SHIELDs radar in a bad way. I know you're outta touch but you're not stupid. The only way to get on SHIELDs radar that way is to be working for some other organization that messes with the peace and harmony that SHIELD so acutely loves."

"What other missions did you carry out?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Did you kill people?" He pressed the issue.

"What do you want to hear?"

"The truth."

"God, that would be your answer, you high-and-mighty bastard! Yes, okay? I killed a bunch of people. I was a hitman. I was so confused and angry and hurt. I wanted to get back at humanity for the way I was being treated and I thought it was justifiable if I was just wiping out the "bad guys." Turns out I was working for the wrong organization for my conscious to be clear. I would tap into their minds and toy with them. I would drive them insane and watch them take their own lives. It was sick and twisted and I hate myself for it now, but I was young and alone and betrayed by my own family. Do you know what it's like to have your own mother tell you that you couldn't possibly be her child? 'I wouldn't raise a devil-child in my household. Take her away.'" She mocked her mother's scathing words. "Do you know what it's like to have your father try to beat the demons out of you?"

Steve was silent, his mouth agape.

"You should close your mouth, you're catching flies," Evelynn stated quietly. "If it helps eases your shock, I haven't used my powers against anyone innocent in over a decade. I'm trying to stay straight. I only use my powers to hurt people if they threaten me, because then it's self-defense. I can't justify or make excuses for my sixteen-year-old self, but you can't blame me for self-defense."

"I don't think you need to ease my conscious, miss."

"Yeah well you're disapproving look says otherwise," she muttered in distain and with that she walked out of the room.

Steve watched her leave. She had killed innocent people. And worse than that, when she did kill them, she was a _bully_. He definitely didn't see that coming.

For the next week, Steve actively avoided Evelynn. He would take his daily runs during the middle of the day to get out of the Stark Tower while she was awake rather than during his normal 5am time. He couldn't believe what she had told him. And what's worse, he found himself trying to justify it.

She had been tortured so she tortured people back. She was targeting normal humans in the same way that Hitler had targeted the Jews. She was creating a superior race and not even knowing it. Did the not-knowing make it better or worse? He wondered.

Steve picked at his dinner, not really in the mood to eat. Evelynn came into the kitchen, prepared a plate for dinner that night and walked back to her room. Tony and Pepper watched curiously as she and Steve awkwardly avoided each other's gaze. When she was out of sight, Tony asked, "So you're that bad in bed, huh?"

"What?" Steve asked astounded.

"I mean, come on! You two were so buddy-buddy and it's clear she's got the hots for you and then all of a sudden I come back one day from you two being _alone_ and she's not talking to you anymore."

"It's not like that."

"I could give you some pointers," Tony offered, shoving some mashed potatoes into his mouth. "I have been complimented by many a girl…I mean…" Tony fumbled over his words as he caught the glare Pepper was giving him. "Just by a few girls….not even, like guys….wait…no…"

Pepper shook her head. "You should talk to her. She can read minds, but you can't. Whatever the issue is, it won't be fixed until you both talk about it."

Steve glanced over his shoulder at the direction of her room. _But I can't be falling this hard for a bully._

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one suffering emotionally through this newfound information. Evelynn sat on the floor of her rented room and burst into tears. She couldn't get a hold of herself lately and she wondered if Director Fury actually wanted her to help Steve or the other way around. He didn't trust her because of her past, and before last week, she had almost forgotten why. Charles had convinced her that she wasn't an inherently evil person, but that she had had evil done onto her and retaliated. But Charles wasn't here anymore to comfort her, and the one person who had been helping her cope with the loss suddenly realized that she was truly an evil freak-of-nature.

Evelynn picked up the silver flip-phone with the classic "X" on the back. She pressed the button to dial out for him. She couldn't figure out why it mattered so much about what Steve thought.

"Hey kid," Logan's traditional greeting answered the X-phone.

She sobbed into the phone. She didn't want to be an evil person and she was so regretful of all of the terrible things she did. Steve was never going to treat her normally again and she knew it.

"At least you remember what you did."

"I wish I could forget."

"No you don't. It's more painful not to know," Logan protested. "Listen, kid. You fucked up, but that's your past. You remember fucking up and you learned from it. You went to Charles and learned to control your powers in a positive way. How many innocent people have you killed since?"

Evelynn sniffled. "None."

"Right. Now me, I've probably killed a ton of people and I don't even know about it. There's a warrant out for my arrest in Canada. Couldn't even tell you why."

"I don't know why his approval is so important to me."

"Because people like us, kid. We desperately wanna feel normal. Now go talk to him."

"I wish you'd stop calling me kid."

"Not a chance, kid." Logan hung up the phone.

Evelynn stood outside of Steve's room, her hand raised to knock on the door. She had been there for a good five minutes trying to work up the courage to knock. Knock, just knock already. C'mon, you can do it. She prompted herself. Inhaling one final time, she held onto the breath as she rapped her knuckles against the door.

"Come in."

She pushed open the door just enough to peek her head in. Steve was sitting at his desk, facing the window and drawing. The record player next to him was playing classic 40s music and Evelynn briefly wondered where he in the world he acquired a vintage, working record player. "I…uh…hey…are you busy? If you're busy I can come back later…or never. It's up to you." She was speeding through her words.

"I'm not busy," Steve looked up from his drawing.

"You look busy. I'll come back later." With that she slammed the door and hurried back to her room. Just before she could open her door, a strong hand reached out and closed it. She gulped and turned around. "I'm sorry," Evelynn whispered.

"For what?"

"For disappointing you. I am trying to be a better person, but I can't erase my past."

"You were a bully," Steve states, matter-of-factly.

"I know," she whispered. "Please, Steve. Don't look at me like that. I know it's terrible. I've got so much red on my ledger, but I'm trying desperately to wipe it out. And I can't even explain why, but I really don't want you to be disappointed with me…or hate me…" she added the last part even softer than the rest. She refused to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," hearing those words, made her heart stop. He was going to push her out just like everyone else. Unexpectedly, he gently cradled her chin under his two fingers and lifted it to meet his ice blue gaze. "I shouldn't be judging you for your past. You're not that person any more. I know what it's like to be bullied so I guess I over-reacted. I just needed some time to think it all over."

Butterflies flew in her stomach. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him and…kiss him. She restrained her urges though and calmly replied, "Thank you. I'm glad you feel that way because it was killing me to have you loathe me."

"I wasn't loathing you, I was angry at the situation and that the world would create such a scenario where someone like yourself would have to choose such a path."

Instantly, the hurt returns. It was all just words, wasn't it? He wasn't actually forgiving her. "What do you mean 'someone like me'?"

"I mean a beautiful, smart young woman shouldn't have to go through so much pain." His chivalrous nature was always getting the best of her. She blushed.

"Please don't treat me any differently now that you know," she requested.

Steve smiled. "With all due respect, I haven't treated you any differently than any other woman after I found out about your powers. I don't think it would be fair if I decided to do that now."

"So you won't avoid me any longer?" Steve shook his head. "Thanks. I've never had a normal person like me the way you do."

_Oh you don't know the half of it._ Steve thought, and instantly blushed hoping that she didn't read his mind.

"I know you like to be all chivalrous and all, but any chance I can buy you an "I'm sorry" drink?"

"That's not necessary."

Evelynn shrugged nonchalantly. "I know. But it would make me feel better on multiple levels. And besides I figured you'd definitely decline make-up sex."

Steve blushed profusely. "I…uh…well…you are beautiful…and I….uh…it would be…uh…"

"Let me buy you a drink," she hooked her arm in his and marched towards the elevator.

"We live in an age of darkness. A world full of fear, hate and intolerance. But in every age, there are those who fight against it. Charles Xavier was born into a world divided. A world he tried to heal. A mission he never saw accomplished. It seems it's the destiny of great men to see their goals unfulfilled. Charles was more than a leader, more than a teacher. He was a friend. When we were afraid, he gave us strength. When we were alone, he gave us a family. He may be gone, but his teachings live on through us…his students. Wherever we may go, we must carry on his vision. And that is a vision of a world united."

Storm's speech at Professor Xavier's funeral was eloquent and emotional. Evelynn wanted nothing more than to be able to bring him back to life. In fact, she'd trade her mutation for the ability to bring him back, and she definitely wasn't alone in that sentiment. Storm was right, however. They needed to pick up the pieces and never forget what they had learned from him. Storm, like Evelynn had lost so much these past few years, but Storm was much more collected than Evelynn was.

Logan, though his reputation called for him to be the nonchalant bad-ass, was hurting too by the deaths of those around him, although most of those at the Mansion believed that Jean's death actually pained him more than the Professor's.

As people dispersed, Logan approached Storm. "So what happens to the school now?"

"I'm taking over. I think it's what he would have wanted. You going to help me teach the youngsters?"

Logan smirked. "Nah. Teaching's not really my style."

"Sir, you're going to want to look at this." Agent Hill motioned for her director to look at her screen.

"Are they mobilizing?"

Agent Hill avoided the question. "Loki seems to have decided that an alien army wasn't going to work so he's enlisted their help."

"We assumed this," Fury stated, annoyed.

"We didn't think that they would agree to it. And there's more," Agent Hill zoomed in on the screen. "I don't think she'll handle this blow well. We might lose her."

"Secure line 0045. Get her on the line."

It had been nearly six weeks since she moved into Stark Towers. Steve needed less adjusting than Director Fury gave him credit for minus a few mishaps here and there, which made it easier for Evelynn to just spend time with him. He had opened up to her quite a bit, which was unnerving to say the least. The last person who opened up to her was Logan…and that had ended, well…it ended.

She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was such a weird place to be in, for she wasn't quite content with her situation, and yet, she was completely and irreversibly happy whenever she got to spend time with him. He treated her like a _person_ even though he _knew about her _and it was quite invigorating. And the kiss they shared…

He wasn't covering his ears trying to prevent her from reading his mind, or avoiding contact with her as if she was contagious. Although both actions were quite silly, the stupidity of people never ceased to amaze her when they were confronted with unfamiliar things. Sure he asked tons of questions about her mutation, but they were never rude. Or when they were, he immediately apologized and tried to rephrase it in a different manner. It was….refreshing.

_It's people like him that made you want to preserve humanity, Charles. I know it._

On the flipside, she was being used for her powers again, albeit by a different agency this time. She didn't like that idea. And she was…withholding information from the Avengers which was sure to blow up in her face sooner or later.

In the short time that Evelynn had been in the Stark Tower, Steve had witnessed a wide array of her powers, some more daunting than others. Despite this, he did truly enjoy her company and she was right about them having a lot in common. She understood his loss much more than anyone he came in contact with, and while it wasn't quite a "shared life experience," she was empathetic and endearing. He enjoyed spending time with her and was glad that, for once in his life, Director Fury sent someone in to help him. He was the super-soldier and "America's poster child" as Evelynn called him, but it did get lonely from time-to-time and sharing those lonely moments with Evelynn was relaxing to say the least.

"Miss, Director Fury is on a secure line for you." The voice of JARVIS woke Evelynn.

"Mm? Put him on the line," Evelynn mumbled, wiping sleep from her eyes. "Director?"

"I need you to come in."

"When?"

"Ten minutes ago."

Evelynn hurried to get dressed, throwing on sweatpants and a zip-up hoodie. She combed through her hair as she walked out of the door of her apartment, right into Steve Rogers. "Going for a run?"

"Uh…yeah…"

"Mind if I join?"

"I…uh…" Oh god, she hated to do this to him. She touched her forefingers to her temples and said, "You don't want to go on a run with me."

"On second thought, I don't want to go on a run with you," Steve said, almost robotically. Charles hadn't taught her that, though he had admitted to using that as one of his "magic" tricks back in England. Evelynn felt guilty, but she was relieved that she didn't have to make up some lie to get him away from her so she could meet Fury.

Fury turned the flat screen to face her. "Do you recognize her?"

The blue woman with her ruby red hair stood next to the Norse God. "Yes, that's Mystique."

"You told our intelligence that she was hit with the cure."

"I also told your intelligence that Magneto regained his powers after being hit with the cure. The "cure" wasn't permanent and the more powerful the mutant is, the less time it takes for the effects to wear off. But it doesn't wear off on all mutants. Rogue got the cure years ago and still is showing no signs of her mutation. Magneto was stabbed with about nine of the injections, so his might have taken a little bit longer to wear off."

"And her?"

"What? No," Evelynn shook her head in disbelief. The woman standing next to Mystique had to be a double, right? _She wouldn't betray us like this._ "That's not really her, is it?"

Gravely, Nick Fury nodded, "Which is why I needed you here ten minutes ago."

"What's their plan of attack?"

"The usual, the world, humanity, the whole nine yards."

"And the Avengers?"

"You'll be traveling back with Agent Romanoff to brief them on the mission."

"And Thor?"

"No sign of him yet."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Briefing **

"Sir, Agent Romanoff and Ms. Evelynn have arrived." JARVIS announced their arrival.

"JARVIS, location on Rogers and Hawkeye."

"Captain Rogers is in his room. Agent Barton is on a mission in South Africa." Natasha was all business and in charge, which Evelynn was extremely grateful for. She had always been a key player in the X-men, but Storm, Scott and Logan always were the natural born leaders. Evelynn preferred that Natasha took the reins and did the briefing session.

"Tell Rogers to come to the kitchen, please."

"As you wish."

Moments later, Steve assembled into the kitchen. Natasha swiped the briefing packet onto the surface of the table, allowing the digital contents to manifest on the countertop. "You remember Loki, boys?" The Avengers rolled their eyes. "He's back to play and he's got some new friends, that our lovely mutant will be able to prep us on."

"What? Oh right, my turn," Evelynn smiled nervously. She enlarged the photo of Mystique. "This is Mystique, she's a shapeshifter so you'll have to be constantly on guard. We'll want to stay as a group because she could turn herself into any one of us and that would prove problematic for the team. She has a distinctive scar on her tummy when Wolverine attacked her with his adamantium claws."

Tony looked at her in disbelief. "She shape-shifts."

"Pretty sweet mutation if you ask me. She's also a fierce fighter and a seductress. She'll use everything the gods have given her to her advantage, human traits, mutant traits and everything in between. I've seen her take on mimicked mutations as well as physical states. They aren't usually nearly as powerful as the mutant she's shifting into, but it is something to keep in mind." Evelynn knew that this piece of information was the least helpful without giving them a full history lesson on every mutant she's ever come in contact with. The Avengers didn't know what mutations she might mimic, but at least she told them everything she knew.

Evelynn zoomed out on Mystique's profile and into Pyro's. "This is Pyro. He controls fire. But he can't create it spontaneously, so if we knock out his home-made flamethrower mechanisms," Evelynn motioned to the gas pilots on his wrists, "he's virtually helpless. He doesn't fight well without his powers."

"And the third one?" Steve asked pointing to the other mutant.

"I'm not sure," Evelynn was only half lying. "She's an old friend and she took over the school when Charles died. She believes in Charles' ideals, so I don't know why she would be working for someone like Loki…"

"Loki put Hawkeye under a mind-numbing spell once. Turned him into his personal flying monkey." Natasha pointed out, inwardly wincing at the memory.

"Her powers?" Evelynn was surprised at how business-like Tony was. She assumed because of the war that Steve would react that way, but Tony never struck her as the business type.

"Like Thors."

"And the others? Humans or mutants?" Captain asked, all business.

"Mostly mutants it seems. They're part of Magneto's old Brotherhood. They believe that they are the next step in evolution and that humans are beneath them and must be servants or be eliminated. I don't know any of their powers in specifics, but their tattoos are pretty distinct. I'm almost positive that Mystique is the only shape-shifter to worry about."

"Weaknesses?"

"Arrogance, mostly." Evelynn perused through the file not looking up. "Magneto is an excellent strategist. He used to play chess with Charles…and win." She realized as soon as she said it that only she and Natasha were privy to the fact that Charles was a telepath like her so winning a chess match actually was a feat. "Magneto also struggles to use his powers when met with physical exhaustion."

"Where are they located?"

"In Westchester County."

"Well at least they're in New York," Tony joked. "JARVIS, my suit, please."

"We need a plan of attack," Steve said, authoritatively. Tony opened his mouth to protest, but JARVIS interrupted. "Sir, Dr. Banner is on his way up."

"D-doctor B-banner?" Evelynn stammered, losing her composure. Why? He can't be…Her eyes widened and she shot a look of panic in Steve's direction. Steve's calculating eyes caught the look, but he did not respond.

"Nice guy, wicked temper though," Tony states nonchalantly. "He worked…" before he could finish, Evelynn bolted from the room. She ran down the emergency stairs. "Are all mutants flight risks? If so, this mission will be a breeze." Tony wondered aloud. "JARVIS, location on Ms. Evelynn please."

"My systems are off-line." Tony furrowed his brow. A few seconds later the distinctive beep of JARVIS turning on resounded. "Sir, the elevator is mal-functioning."

"Let me locate her," Captain Rogers volunteered.

"Not a chance, lover boy," Fury responded on the telecom.

"With all due respect, she left because Bruce came here. Clearly she is agitated. Sending in a troupe will only aggravate her further. Give me two hours to locate her and bring her back. If we get her back here on her terms, she will be less of a flight risk."

Natasha concurred. "It will be better for everyone if she is working with us and not against us. Let Captain Rogers go."

Fury sighed. "One hour."

"You're not suiting up?" Natasha asked.

Captain Rogers hesitated for a moment, reaching for his shield. He shook his head. "She needs to believe I'm going after her because I want to help her. If I show up as Captain America and not as Steve, things might go sour fast."

Steve walked slowly up to the park bench where Evelynn was seated. When he was a few paces away he heard her voice in his head. /_Why are you here?/ _He hesitated for only a moment before approaching the bench. "To help." He sat down next to her on the bench and she instinctively moved away from him. Her gaze was focused on the people in the grass playing with their dog.

_/You can't help. I'm not worth helping. Director Fury brought in Dr. Banner because I didn't do my job correctly. People are going to die because of me and Dr. Banner is here to make sure I reap the consequences./ _Her thoughts were jumbled and quick.

"Of all of the pieces of your mutation, I like the mind-talking the least. It's unnerving."

_/I don't want to talk./_ Evelynn ignored his request, hoping he would go away. "Will you at least _look_ at me then?" Slowly Evelynn brought her gaze up to meet his. He smiled, not because he won a small battle but because he was right about trusting his gut. She wasn't going to hurt him. "Why do you think Dr. Banner is going to hurt you? He might turn into the other guy and reap havoc, but he's never hurt us. He's on our side, even the other guy knows it."

"I'm not so worried about the green guy."

Gratefully, Steve whispered, "Glad you're talking for real." He paused for a moment. "So you have a thing against doctors? Not all of them are like that guy…what was his name? Striker?"

"I know they're not." Evelynn averted her gazed. Softly, she said, "But Dr. Banner used to work for William Striker."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**:

All color left Steve's face. He hadn't been prepared for that response. What should he say to that? What could he possibly say? That Bruce didn't know what he was doing? She wouldn't believe that because _he_ didn't believe that. "I'm sure he isn't the way I remember him. The way you experienced experimentation on your body is way different than mine."

"Yours was more like torture of a war-time criminal," Steve supplied. Evelynn met his gaze again. There was a softness there. She recognized it and immediately berated herself for stooping so low.

"I'm not a damsel-in-distress that needs the saving of the valiant Captain America, Steve," she huffed. "I'm…I'm…"

"A strong, beautiful woman who has had a lot happen to her recently. I don't think you're a helpless dame. Believe me, I've met plenty of those, especially after the procedure, who just want to be rescued by Captain America. You're nothing like that. But admitting you need back-up doesn't make you weak. An army isn't just one man fighting; it's platoons of men working together. That's what makes them strong. They have back-up so that they win. I'm here to be your back-up."

Evelynn forced a smile. /_Don't tell anyone…I'm scared. /_

"Being scared makes us human. It's okay to fear things, it's what we do to overcome the fear that matters. I'll tell you a secret. I was terrified when they first put me in the machine for the procedure. I wanted to serve my country so badly and I wanted to help end the war. So I didn't let my fear consume me. When I saw the HYDRA weapons that were powered by the Tesseract for the first time, I was scared, but I had a team I had to lead into battle so I overcame my fear."

"I never thought Captain America would be scared of something," Evelynn conceded. "But you know what?" Steve raised his eyebrows. "I bet those HYDRA officers were way more scared when they saw Captain America storming their camps." Both of them chuckled.

Evelynn leaned in and kissed Steve softly on the cheek. "Thank you." Steve cupped her cheeks and kissed her fully on the lips. He slid his tongue into her mouth and explored its caverns. He pulled her closer to him so that she was practically on his lap. God, he hadn't kissed anyone in so long.

_Riinnnggg!_

God dammit, Steve knew it was one of the Avengers asking for a status update. If he didn't answer, they would send the whole squadron after them. Evelynn pulled away. "Swipe the green flashing circle across the screen gently," she prompted.

"Hello?"

…

"Yes. Situation has been contained."

…

"Yes sir. We'll rendezvous back at Stark Towers in thirty minutes."

…

"Understood."

Steve hung up the phone and look apologetically at Evelynn. "Director Fury wants us back at the Tower."

"I heard. But why did you tell him it would take us thirty minutes? We're not that far from Stark Tower."

"I wanted to make sure you were prepared emotionally to go back. He'll be there, you know, and we need you for this mission. You're our expert for all things mutant."

"You are truly the best human being I've come in contact with." She threw her arms around his neck. /_And probably one of the sexiest./_ Immediately Steve blushed and stammered something about them getting back to the Tower to rendezvous with the rest of the team.

"Are they mobilizing? What's their target?"

"Humanity," Natasha stated coolly. "Call it, Captain."

"All right. You said he plays chess," Steve nodded in Evelynn's direction. "In chess the pawns move first, which means that we won't be facing any of their prime players right away. We need to keep our guard up though. We're short Hawkeye. Tony you create a perimeter in the sky. Natasha, Evelynn and I will strike here. Hulk, you wait until Loki is vulnerable and take him down. Fury, assemble the pilots in case we need to make a quick getaway."

Just as Steve finished his commands, lightning struck. "Thor?"

The demi-god landed in front of the Avengers. "Comrades. Loki is…"

"Terrorizing Earth again," Natasha supplied. "I thought he was answering for the first time round."

"He can be persuasive and mother believes him." Natasha rolled her eyes and handed an ear piece to each Avenger. The Avengers rode the elevator to the roof and entered the jet to head to West Chester County. In a few short minutes, they were hovering above the X-Mansion.

The Avengers jumped out of the low-hovering plane, one by one. Fury grabbed Evelynn's arm before she could descend. "Remember your mission." She nodded.

[a/n] Sorry this one is super short!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Battle at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters**

Of course Loki first needed to wipe out any mutants who refused to join his cause. Having a hunch that many of the mutants residing at the School for Gifted Youngsters would refuse to join unless they had some persuasion, he "recruited" Storm. He smirked as the Avengers appeared on the scene. "Right on cue."

Loki nodded to Magneto. "Brothers and sisters," The mutant addressed his peers, "Today is the day we show the world what the next stage of evolution is capable of. Today, we re-write history!" The Brotherhood of Mutants cheered and they began to rush the mansion.

Evelynn joined her new teammates as they stormed the grounds of her old home. As predicted, Magneto was sending the weaker mutants ahead with the intention of tiring the Avengers out before they got to him and Loki.

She knocked out one girl with a quick jab to her chin and dragged the feet out from under several other mutants as they approached her by grabbing the air and pulling. She planted her left heal and struck another mutant with her right shin in a precise roundhouse kick. She didn't re-track her shin fast enough and the mutant grabbed her shoe and flipped her onto the ground.

On her right, Natasha was shooting mutants with pristine accuracy. "Re-chamber your kicks," she called out as Evelynn stood back up. Behind her Dr. Banner had transformed and was just swiping scores of mutants clear off of the map. Captain America charged forward with all of his finesse, throwing and catching his shield and knocking out enemies one-by-one. There was a soft hum of the Iron Man suit charging and recharging as Tony fired on the mutants.

"Natasha," Evelynn spoke desperately into the comm. piece. "How did you get Barton out of Loki's control before?"

"I re-calibrated his brain."

"Can you do that for Storm?"

"I'm a little preoccupied right now, Evelynn!" Natasha shot another mutant dead center. Evelynn pushed the mutants surrounding Natasha into the basketball pole. /_Please. She's all I have left._/ Natasha nodded in response. As she bolted up the hill towards Loki and Storm, she passed a familiar face…

"Good of you to join us, Hawkeye," Captain America nodded toward his comrade. "Did Fury call you in?" Without warning Hawkeye pulled a gun from its holster and aimed it at Rogers.

BANG!

Steve's eyes widened as the imposter in front of him stutter-stepped, all of her transformations from the past day cycling through. She fell to the ground, clutching her left shoulder. Natasha stood behind her, gun still aimed.

"How did you know it wasn't him?"

Natasha smiled. "Knowing people's patterns is part of my job." She pivoted on her heel and sprinted up towards Storm.

Rogers nodded to her in thanks and hurled his shield at a nearby member of the brotherhood. Their tribal tattoos made them quite easy to distinguish.

"Tony! Stay out of sight. Magneto's here. He'll control your suit in a heartbeat if he realizes you're around. Look alive team. Magneto controls all things metal." Evelynn spoke through her comm.

"Is he the man in the black cape with the dorky looking helmet?" Natasha asked.

"Yes." As soon as she affirmed, Captain Rogers hurled his shield at him. "Bozo! You're shield is…" Evelynn didn't bother to finish berating the captain as Magneto hurled the shield back at him. As soon as Captain America caught his shield, stopping it from practically piercing his stomach, he was launched forward towards the mutant.

He's as bad as Wolverine. Evelynn thought to herself. /_Old habits die hard, huh, Cap?/_

_/Yeah, didn't think that one through./ _Steve admitted, bashfully.

"You humans never learn do you?" Magneto smirked. He held the shield, with Captain Rogers still attached to it, above the soldier's head. He dangled in front of Magneto. "You brought the wrong toys to play with, _Captain_." He smirked. "Everything that is metal is mine."

"Good thing my feet aren't metal," Rogers huffed and kicked Magneto in the chest with both of his feet. Magneto fell to the ground and released his hold on the shield. Steve bent his knees and rolled out of the way of some cross-fire.

Rogers hooked his shield onto his back and marched over to Magneto. He picked him up by the collar of his coat and punched him in between his eyes, knocking him out cold. Rogers pressed a finger to his ear. "You're clear, Tony."

"Roger that, Captain Popsicle!"

"That is still not funny, Tony."

A mutant appeared in front of Captain America. He cracked his neck, smirking at the Avenger clad in red, white and blue. As Steve tossed his shield at the mutant, he teleported and appeared directly behind him. The mutant wrapped his arms around Rogers's neck. Steve reached behind him and threw him forward. Just before the mutant hit the ground, he teleported so that he might land on his feet.

The mutant teleported again and again, striking the captain with his fist each time he teleported. "Captain," Tony called threw the comm. "He's more predictable than he appears. Your 10 o'clock coming up." Just as Tony finished calling out the pattern, the mutant appear on Steve's left and he slammed his head into the unsuspecting mutant, knocking him out cold.

"Good call, thanks." Steve marched towards his shield and replaced it on his arm.

Pyro switched on his lighters with a double flick of his wrist. He shot fire bolt after fire bolt up at Tony. With precision, Tony veered out of the way of each shoot. "You're gonna have to do better than that, hot shot." Tony circled above him and waited for JARVIS to line of the perfect shot. The arc reactor in his chest hummed and fired a small pulse directly at Pyro's wrist. Pyro screamed in agony as his arm caught fire. He subdued the flames just as Tony fired another shot. The flames swept up his other arm onto his face and when the infuriated Pyro calmed the flames, his face was scarred.

Tony landed in front of him and punched him in the jaw. Pyro stuttered backwards two paces and Tony aimed his hands at the ground below his feet. He blasted the ground and sent Pyro flying onto his ass. Pyro groaned in pain. One final shot aimed directly at his head knocked him out for good.

"I think, my dear, that some cover might suit our comrades quite nicely," Loki cooed to Storm. Under his spell, she nodded and fog began to cover the grounds.

Thor saw the fog approaching and swung his hammer in a circular motion. The skies darkened and thunder roared. Lightning struck the ground and the fog dispersed. Storm cocked her head, confused. She had never met someone with a power like hers.

Paying her concern no mind, Storm retaliated with a lightning bolt aimed directly for Thor. He redirected it, electrocuting several of the Brotherhood in the process. He ran towards Storm and slammed his hammer onto the ground mere inches from where she stood. She fell onto the ground, but did not lose her focus. She swept Thor up in a mini tornado.

Natasha rushed towards Storm, intending on "re-calibrating her," but Storm swept her hands to the left and swept Natasha away as well.

Thor flew back to the place where his brother stood. He circled his mighty hammer once more. "Brother, why must you continue to wage war against the Midgardians? You cannot desire a throne that much."

"It is my birthright!" Loki was practically screaming at his brother. Thor sighed, knowing that there was no talking sense into him. He swung his hammer, preparing to knock Loki out with it. Lightning surged around the top of the hammer. "Oh, I wouldn't." Loki stated, coolly.

As the thunder god swung his hammer, Loki put up his scepter and created a brief, but effective force-field around himself. The lightning was redirected and Thor was hurdled backwards upon impact.

The lightning bolt struck Storm in her chest as she stood next to Loki. Her body went limp. Evelynn's eyes widened as she screamed.

[a/n] Just as a side-note. I did do some research into Loki. He was supposedly able to create force-fields, according to some myths so I did not just pull that outta my ass. :P


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Order Six-two-six**

Loki smirked as Evelynn screamed. "I can make the pain stop you know," his smooth voice whispered as he approached her. "All you need to do is give me what I want."

"And what is that?" Evelynn seethed.

"My mind control is quite effective, but yours, oh dear. When you're angry, you can freeze an entire city, control all of the Avengers if need be. Imagine how easy it would be to rule these pathetic humans, with you by my side and this pitiful Brotherhood of Mutants doing our bidding."

"I won't help you."

"Ah, but who will help you get revenge on my dear brother? He is a demi-god after all."

"I'm not in it for revenge."

"No, but you were once…and those temptations never really fade do they?" He was circling her. "Take a look at your friends," he motioned to the Avengers still fighting against the Brotherhood. "Do you really think they will win? They are horribly outnumbered and out…_gunned_, shall we say. I offer you freedom from these wretched humans. I offer you life!"

"I've got you monologue-ing, Loki. Didn't they teach you in villain school not to do that?" The scepter was no longer in his hands but hers. Evelynn fired a single shot and knocked him off his feet. His head smashed against the wall, knocking him unconscious. She reached out her hand and pulled the red helmet from Magneto's unconscious head to her. Into her comm she said, "Loki's down. I have his scepter."

Fury spoke into her comm. "I'm rounding the helicopter to pick you up, Agent." The tone of his voice indicated that he recognized her coding. "Captain, assemble the Avengers. You need to be off of the ground in T-minus three minutes."

"Copy that."

"Agents, initiate order 626 on my mark." Fury was giving directions as you handed over the scepter and the helmet.

"What's order 626?" Captain America asked as he hopped onto the helicopter and extended his hand to Natasha to help her onto it as well.

Nicholas Fury ignored the Captain's question. He continued to bark orders. Once again, Fury had compartmentalized the mission. "Agent Hill, are you in place?"

"Yes, sir. Waiting on her."

Fury turned to face Evelynn. "You're up." He circled the helicopter around the battlefield. Evelynn closed her eyes and outstretched her hands. _True focus is between rage and serenity_, she reminded herself. _This is the humane way to stop it all. Freeze them for containment, no unnecessary deaths._

But she couldn't focus, she couldn't find it. "Now would be a good time for your magic trick, Evelynn." Fury growled. Her eyes shot open and she glared at the director. _True focus…_she prompted herself again and closed her eyes once again. But she couldn't shake the image of Storm's death. She could feel them freezing one by one. "We need them alive, Agent." The screams of several of the members of the Brotherhood drew her back towards focus.

"You've got the rage part," Steve's gruff voice whispered to her. "Now you need the serenity." Several more mutants screamed as she tried to find her serenity. Magneto slowly regained his consciousness and jerked the helicopter, throwing Evelynn off balance. She squealed and Natasha reached out to pull her back onto the copter.

The engines stalled as Magneto continued to manipulate the helicopter. He wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. She was a strong telepath, but didn't have anywhere near the strength that Charles had or that Phoenix had. She couldn't freeze all of the Brotherhood and fight against him at the same time. They both knew it.

RAAAAWWWWRRRR! Hulk picked up Magneto like a rag doll and threw him forcefully into a nearby wall. Losing his focus allowed for the chopper's engines to restart and Fury piloted it back to a safe altitude. Hulk stomped over to Magneto's body, picked him up by the collar, and threw him across the way into another wall. Magneto struggled to get back up before passing out a second time, releasing his hold on the helicopter completely.

Evelynn closed her eyes again, trying to find her serenity. Steve was right, she had her rage and she knew it. But what was her serenity? Her life was so filled with pain and anger and running…and /_Steve_./ She found her serenity. Charles was right, of course and the mutants below froze one-by-one. No screams were heard.

Steve and Natasha watched the scene from the chopper. It was as if someone pressed the pause button on a movie. It was…incredible.

"I can't hold them forever, Fury!"

"Agent Hill? Status?"

Agent Hill fired the specially designed handcuffs at the frozen mutants. "Almost clear. Just a few more seconds."

"On Agent Hill's command, all agents sweep the area. Containment only."

"Ready."

"Let them go," Fury commanded. As soon as she did, the cuffs delivered a low shock to all of the Brotherhood, stunning them. Should any of them recover, Hill would simply reapply the shock as the rest of the Agents brought them in for processing.

Evelynn marched up to the mini-cockpit area. "Take the chopper down." She commanded to Fury.

"You are not in a position to give commands." Ignoring his rebuttal, she took control of the helicopter herself and hovered it above Storm's body. Evelynn hopped out of the helicopter. Steve followed and reached to scoop up the body.

"I can do it myself," Evelynn whispered.

"I know you can. I'm your back up, remember?" He cradled Storm's limp body and stepped onto the helicopter. He placed her onto the floor, crossing her hands in front of her abdomen. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful.

Evelynn wiped away tears before they could flow down her cheeks. They had become her family and they were all but gone. Only Logan remained and he was god-knows where searching for answers. She sat cross-legged next to Storm's body.

Fury entered the room where several agents were working on the properties of the helmet. He had just returned for the World Security Council. The mutants in custody were being release under high probationary status, an elite agent being assigned as a parole officer for each. Several of the higher risk mutants were placed in a maximum security SHIELD prison, each one specially designed to combat their individualized mutation.

He had seen some pretty outrageous outfits in his time, and Nicholas Fury could tell by the look of this helmet that no one, not even those in the position of Magneto, would subject themselves to where such a helmet unless it possessed some defensive or offensive powers against his fellow mutants.

Magneto was in another plastic prison, still unconscious from Hulk's blows. When he would awaken several hours later, Fury would question him about the helmet.

"Sir," Fury turned to Agent Hill. "Is keeping them here any better than what William Striker did?"

"We won't be experimenting on them, Agent Hill," Fury assured. "They're prisoners in a much fancier prison, that's all."

Agent Hill let out a sigh of relief. "Good. The last thing we need is to be exposed for experimenting on mutants. We would make more enemies than I care to think about."

She was right of course, but SHIELD always had enemies.

Evelynn alternated between delivering hash kicks to the heavy bag and a few good hooks and jabs. Faintly a ding from the elevator sounded behind her. Captain Rogers entered the gym. "Your right hook could use a little work," he jested as he approached her in the ring.

Without warning, she pivoted on her heel and knocked him square in the jaw. "How's that for a right hook? Huh? Go ahead, hit me back. I dare you."

Although she hadn't knocked him to the ground, the punch had thrown him off-guard. Re-stabling himself, he stated. "Miss, I'm not in the business of hitting a woman." Evelynn just glared at him, partially hurt that he wouldn't take up her challenge. "I don't think I deserved to be the target of your anger. I'm only here to help."

"You can't bring her back. You can't bring any of them back."

"And you can't bring anyone from my past back, yet here we are."

For a moment she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. He was right, and he was in the same position as she was, but he wasn't being a baby about it. She needed to be strong. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and she turned back to the heavy bag and started jabbing away.

"I'm not weak," she panted between punches.

"I don't recall even thinking that, Evelynn."

"You know what I'd love to do more than anything?" She turned to face Steve. He shrugged nonchalantly. /_This_,/ she closed the gap between them and kissed him gently on the lips. She snaked her hands up to his neck. Startled at first, Steve didn't respond, but he eased into the touch of her lips against his, her tongue slipping into his mouth. His hands rested on her hips and he pulled her closer. /_Please let me forget./_

Steve pulled away and Evelynn moaned in protest. His eyes were dilated and his hands held her firmly in place, but when she reached up to kiss him again her resisted. "You are not in the right state of mind for this, ma'am."

Evelynn pouted, knowing that there was no way to change his mind freely. She didn't want to use her powers on him, for fear that his "treating her like a regular person even though you know I'm a freak" streak would be ruined if she did.

"You're probably right," she whispered. "But I could really use a hug."

"I happen to be an expert in that field," Steve winked at her. He pulled her against his chest, tucking her head under his chin. She slid her arms between them and resting them on his chest, feeling his heart beat pump against her fingertips.

"How do you handle it? Feeling alone?"

"It was much harder before. When I first woke up, everyone I knew was dead or in a nursing home. Everything was different and at first I resisted the change," As Steve spoke, she slipped her hands around his back and squeezed him tightly. The heat radiating off of his body was just as comforting as the embrace itself and she wasn't ready for him to pull away. "My team has become my new family. They helped me through a lot of tough times. I actually knew you were coming in to "work" with me. Natasha had suggested I see someone."

"Seeing someone with similar symptoms and problems might not always be the best solution," Evelynn pointed out.

"No, but you also don't know that I saw a shrink for several months after the Battle of New York. You've been far more helpful than the shrink was."

"Did you ever feel like giving up?" Evelynn's voice was barely audible.

"Yeah. I felt like I was no longer Steve Rogers and I was just Captain America. And you know who pulled me outta that slump?" Against his chest, Evelynn shook her head. "Tony Stark did." Evelynn pulled away in disbelief. "He said 'I'll tell you what I told Bruce. This little glowing light, it protects me from the scrapnel that fights every day to get into my heart. I was meant to die in that bunker and Stark Industries would still be producing weapons of mass destruction. I was given a second chance. So were you.'"

"That's the nicest thing to come out of Tony's mouth I think."

"I'm sure he says nice things to Pepper." Steve speculated.

_/I'm sure he does nice things to Pepper too./ _She had meant to keep that thought to herself. When she saw Steve's reaction she blushed. "Sorry. I know you hate the _thought-speech_. I'll stay verbal," she tried to divert the conversation onto the method of speaking rather than what she just said.

Steve kissed her forehead. "I don't want you to do anything you'd regret."

"Please don't treat me like a child. You may be ninety-five but I'm a grown woman. I've not been a child in eons."

"I'm treating you like the respectable woman you are," Steve countered. "Don't think I don't want it. I haven't had any in…" he trailed off, blushing. "But now is not the time, or the place."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Coping**

The entire communal area was spotless. Evelynn had been cleaning for over two hours. Her third batch of cookies were in the oven and when the timer went off and rather than manipulating them out of the oven with her mind she walked over and pulled them out manually. Scattered across the island and all of the countertops were baked goods. She was starting to run out of room and had transferred several trays to the coffee table in the living room. Tony Stark entered the kitchen and swiped up a cookie. "These are delicious. Good thing you're a good cook; that was a woman's place in the 40s."

Evelynn shot him a glare. "Because I want to be a woman from the 40s."

"Steve would like that."

"And aren't you just Mr. Match-maker."

Tony shrugged and smirked. "You know me. Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, super-hero, genius, match maker, and incredibly gorgeous if I do say so myself. God, my resume is impressive." He grabbed another cookie, "If you use all of the eggs while turning my kitchen into your personal bakery, do go out and buy more." Evelynn nodded and watched as he left the room.

Just as Tony walked out, Steve entered. Tony smirked to her, "Try her cookies, they're delicious. And I think I saw cake pops on the coffee table. You got yourself a prime specimen."

Steve, being used to Tony's attempts at match-making (among other crazy things), ignored him. He approached Evelynn. He looked around the room at the wide array of sweets. "Good thing Tony has a sweet tooth or else he would be quite angry with you making all of these."

"Yeah," Evelynn said softly. "Though I secretly think he likes the sugar cookies the best. I may have put rum in them." She glanced over her shoulder as she continued to mix more batter. "It doesn't taste as good as it sounds. But if you eat enough of them, you won't notice how bad they taste. The cake-pops are delicious though."

"What are cake-pops?" he asked cautiously.

"On the table," she nodded her head and continued to mix. Steve walked over to the coffeetable and picked up the small chocolate covered ball on a stick. Tentatively he bit into it…it was delicious! It was a lollipop made of cake and icing! Steve couldn't believe the cleverness of it all.

"These are amazing."

"Thanks," Evelynn smiled. "I think this might be my last batch of cookies. It's getting close to dinner, maybe I should make real sustenance for you guys."

"Have your powers been off lately?"

"No," Evelynn said and it was half true. The only time her powers had been off since Storm's death were at night. She had made the entire Tower shake with her nightmares. "Why?"

"Then why don't you use your powers to bake all of the sweets? Wouldn't that be easier?"

"It's more therapeutic to do it by hand."

Evelynn had been a mess for days, Steve knew it. She had gone to the funeral yesterday and was far worse for wear after returning. So much so, that Fury had approached him about keeping an extra close eye on her because the last thing the Avenger's needed right now was to be choosing between humanity and their new comrade. She had everything taken from her once before and now she had lost it all again. That would be enough to drive anyone over the edge, and adding telepathy to the mix? Well, Steve could understand why Fury wanted him to keep a close eye on her.

So far though, besides trying to seduce him on multiple occasions, she had been coping by cleaning the Tower, and it was in pristine condition. Moreso than Steve had ever seen it before, which was possibly due to her cleaning it every day for the past four days. And she was cooking endlessly, sweets, dinners, lunches, desserts, soups, smoothies, you name it and she was making it in the kitchen. And of course the heavy bag. So, thus far, Steve hadn't found anything of consequence to worry about.

He had gone out for a run as usual. He really did want to make her feel better and man, did she want to make him feel better. But it wouldn't be proper to take advantage of her plight like that. No, Steve would have to wait a little while longer. And it was killing him. Sometimes he wished he could have been a little more reckless like Bucky…

He wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood in the elevator, waiting to get off at the penthouse. The bell dinged softly as the doors opened and she was standing there….wrapped in another man's arms. He was bulky, with brown hair that was spiked up in two, making it look like mini horns. He wore a white beater and worn out jeans and was ravishing his hands all over her as they kissed.

Steve cleared his throat to make his presence known. Evelynn struggled to regain her composure as she readjusted her shirt and turned to face Captain Rogers. As soon as she met his eyes, she instantly regretting calling Logan. And Logan, in all his arrogant glory, was just making things worse. "Sorry, bub. You snooze, you lose."

Completely ignoring Logan, Steve chided, "I thought you had a little more respect for yourself."

Evelynn just stood there for a moment before smashing Captain's shield across the back of his head with her powers. "Fuck you," she seethed. "You don't get to judge my coping strategies. I offered you the chance for this to be you…and you rejected me."

"I was trying to be respectful. And these coping strategies of yours aren't healthy."

Evelynn wasn't listening. She had silently told Logan that she wanted to be alone and stormed off to her room. Glaring at Steve, Logan said, "Well there goes my fun."

"How can you be such an ass to her?" Steve asked. "She's hurting and you're taking advantage of her."

"No, she's hurting and she _called_ me. She was quite explicit with what she wanted. I didn't press the matter." Logan bumped Steve as he boarded the elevator to leave the Tower. Tentatively Steve rubbed the back of his head where Evelynn hit him. Now he knew what the HYDRA agents felt like when he had stormed their camps. It _hurt_, but thankfully wasn't bleeding.

Steve entered her room to see Evelynn sitting cross-legged on her bed with her eyes closed and her palms up. It was quite clear that she wasn't getting any so she needed to calm some of her more primal emotions so as not to lose control of her mutation. "You make me feel very conflicted, you know that?" Steve said, softly.

Peeking through one eye, Evelynn asked, "How so?"

"I'm trying to do the right thing by not sleeping with you while you're vulnerable and then you throw it in my face by trying to get with him."

"Wanna know a secret?" Evelynn asked, still in perfect meditation posture.

"I suppose?" Captain Rogers said cautiously.

"You make me feel real conflicted too."

Steve smirked, and repeated her question. "How so?"

"Because I've never liked a normal human like I like you before. And every human who has ever treated me like you do has always stabbed me in the back or pushed me away when I got too close. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that you want to be my friend, still."

_I'd like to be more than friends_, Steve thought.

"That's a very flattering thought." Evelynn's eyes shot open as she realized what she just did. "Oh god! I'm sorry. I didn't…you were thinking loudly and I couldn't….I'm sorry…"

To her surprise Steve came over and planted himself firmly in front of her, his hands crossed over his chest. In his Captain America voice, he berated her, "It's rude to read people's minds."

"Using your Captain America voice when we're not in battle is quite sexy."

"Thank you," Steve winked. "Now, a healthy coping mechanism is going out to ice cream with me."

Evelynn smiled and shook her head. "You really must enjoy blue-balling yourself, Cap." She stood and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his. "But I'd love to get some ice cream with you."

Steve had wandered onto the communal floor, in search for something cool to drink. He walked past the flat screen TV, blaring an info-morcial about some weight loss product. He detoured from his path to the kitchen and walked into the living room. Evelynn was sprawled out on the couch, her one hand loosely grasping a half-drank tequila bottle. Two cell phones were blinking on the glass coffee table and her dog-tags were on the ground next to the tequila bottle.

"JARVIS."

"Yes, Captain Rogers?"

"The TV please," he removed the tequila bottle from Evelynn's grasp and picked up her dog-tags and her cell phones. He placed her personal items into his pockets and scooped her easily into his arms. He replaced her bra strap to its proper place on her shoulder. She stirred slightly. "Shh," he cooed. "You'll be more comfortable in your own bed."

She nuzzled her head into his broad chest. "I'd be more comfortable in your bed."

"I'm sure, miss. But we'll save that for a more…sober time." He pushed open the door with his foot and carefully placed her onto the bed. He removed her personal items and placed them on the nightstand beside her bed. Just as he was about to leave, the door slammed shut.

In her drunken stupor, Evelynn giggled. "Have you ever had sex before, Captain?" He turned to face her and tried to stifle the blush creeping up his cheeks. "Oh my god, you HAVE!"

"You said you wouldn't read my mind without permission," Steve scowled and reached for the door handle.

"I didn't have to read your mind. And you just," Evelynn hiccupped. "Confirmed it. So who was she? It was a girl, right?"

"Yes it was a woman…" Steve trailed off. "I'm not going to have this conversation with you right now."

"You wanna know this game we used to play back at school?" Evelynn's stupor was causing her to rapidly change the subject. "We used to sit in a circle and wish for different mutation. But they had to be a mutation that somebody in the circle actually had. And when you decided, you had to kiss the person." She giggled. "It was a stupid game. I got kissed a lot 'cause people always wanna read other people's minds. Find out if their crushes like them back and such."

"What mutant would you kiss for their power?"

"Then or now?" Steve shrugged. Though he was quite curious about what she wished her power was, with all of her advances in the past few days, he assumed the "now" answer would be him, despite his not being a true mutant. To his surprise she didn't mutter out his name.

"Pepper? Why?"

"'Cause she's normal. None of this pain would have happened if I was normal. I'd have gone to a regular school with regular kids and would have lived with my family. Charles probably still would have died, but I wouldn't have known him for it to hurt."

"We wouldn't have met if you were normal though."

"Truth. I would miss that, but I'm a little irked by being surrounded by death all of the time."

"Losing those around us is a part of life," Steve mused.

Evelynn smiled goofily. "You drawstring is untied," she giggled as she twisted her fingers and pulled the drawstring of his pajamas clear out of the pants. The string floated across the room.

"If you were going to undress me, I'd prefer that you do it without your powers."

"That can be arranged," unsteadily, she stood and walked over to the Captain. She slipped her hands into his pants and kissed his chest. Steve moaned, reached down after her and grasped her wrists and brought her hands to his lips. He kissed each hand softly.

"You're drunk." Evelynn protested, but he shushed her. "I won't do this while you're drunk."

"And if I wasn't drunk?" She asked hopefully.

"Ask me when you're sober." With that, Steve picked her up and placed her back into bed. He almost had to waddle as without the drawstring to hold them up, his pants were beginning to slip.

Steve entered Evelynn's room with toast and a large glass of water, only to find that she wasn't there. "JARVIS, location on Ms. Evelynn, please."

"Sir, Ms. Evelynn is on the roof." Since JARVIS was an AI, there was never any intonation in his voice, even still Steve panicked. He dropped the glass and the toast. He knew what it felt like to lose everyone. He bolted up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. To his relief, Evelynn was not standing at the edge looking over. She sat cross-legged with a small electronic radio playing soft music next to her.

"I'm surprised to see you outside in the sun after all you drank last night."

"In my defense, Tony did have 2 mojitos with me, so it's not like I drank the whole bottle. And I am hungover, I'm just not sensitive to light when I'm hungover. My powers are what really are affected by my drinking so as long as I don't try to read your mind or anything, I'm okay. A little nauseous though."

"So did it make you feel better?"

"The drinking or the attempt to seduce you?"

"Both I guess," Steve blushed.

"I'm waiting for a phone call from Bobby. He wants me to pull some strings here at SHIELD," Evelynn deliberately changed the subject. "Apparently Charles left the mansion and all of his inheritance to Storm in his will, but Storm didn't have a will, so when she died…the government technically owns the property now. They're trying to shut down the school."

"Do you think Fury will help?"

"Well, I did point out that many of the students have no place to go other than the Mansion, so if they close down the school they will be on the run just like I was. And I was a pain in the ass for SHIELD before Charles took me in."

Steve nodded. "Who's Bobby?"

"Is that jealousy I detect in Captain America's voice?" Evelynn jested before answering. "He's a guy from school. It always was meant to be passed down to Storm or Jean, but now that both are gone, it's kinda topsy turvy over there. It would make sense for him or me to take over the school. We're two of the few remaining students who actually studied under Charles exclusively. There's only like eight of us total in this position. We were some of his first students."

"Will you go back?"

She shrugged. "Probably not."

"Why?"

"There's nothing really for me there. Bobby wants me to come back and help him teach all of the new students, but I don't have the patience that he does. He did try to guilt me into it, saying that Logan won't come back and teach, so it's really just Bobby that's qualified." Evelynn smirked to herself. "Besides, if Logan did come back, the classes he'd teach would be a mess. He has no patience and metal claws in his knuckles to boot."

The music player hummed in the background. "Do you have an escort for the Stark Expo tonight?" Steve blurted out quickly.

"I wasn't aware that I was invited."

"Oh," Steve fell silent again, trying to work up the courage to ask her to come with him without sounding like a fool. "Would you…I mean you don't have to…but I haven't been to a Stark Expo since 1943 when Howard Stark ran the business. I don't want to….go alone."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"No!" Steve stammered forcefully. He cleared his throat, "I mean no, I'm asking if you would accompany me to the Expo. It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be a date."

"I'd like it to be a date."

[a/n] Hope you're enjoying it so far. :) Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Stark Expo**

Steve looked simply dashing in his military uniform. He stood nervously in the living room waiting for Evelynn to arrive. Evelynn walked barefoot into the room holding a pair of heels in each hand. She wore a light blue evening gown that hung off of her shoulders. It was gathered at the top of her left hip, and a slit showed off her leg quite nicely. Across the sweetheart top were faux diamond rhinestones. She had a silver shawl and clutch purse tucked under her arm. Her chestnut brown hair was curled. "All right I bought two pairs of shoes. Which do you think go better with the dress? These," she held up the pair in her left hand. "Or these?" she raised the right pair.

Steve was completely stunned by her appearance. He felt the same way he did when he had seen Peggy in the red dress at the bar. It was so different to see Evelynn this dressed up, for he had only ever seen her in jeans around the Tower or in her leather X-suit when they went on the mission.

"I clean up nice, right?" she smirked as he continued to stare.

"Yes," Steve managed one word before realizing that it could be misconstrued. "I mean you always look nice…you just look beautifuller…I mean not fuller…just more beautiful."

"Thanks. You are adorable when you stammer. And quite spiffy yourself in your uniform." Steve nodded his thanks. "So which pair of shoes?"

"Which is more comfortable?"

"Neither that's the point of high heels. They make your butt look good." Evelynn placed the heels on the ground and stepped into one pair. "See?" Captain Rogers bit his lip. Rather than responding, he offered his arm for her to take and led her to the elevator.

Once outside, Steve opened the door of the limo (provided by Tony of course, for he couldn't have his house guests arriving to his Expo in a taxi; that just wouldn't be stylish enough. And Tony was all about style). He waited for her to enter the limo before walking around the other side to get in. In a few short minutes, they had arrived outside of the Expo. "Thank you for the chivalry," she blushed, as Steve opened the door and offered his hand to help her out of the limo. Paparazzi were everywhere, taking pictures of all of the celebs as they entered the Expo.

The Expo was much more of a party and a show than Steve had remembered, although when it came to the differences in _style_ of the two Starks, it didn't really surprise him much. Tony made a grand entrance as always with his Iron Man suit and can-can dancers. He spoke to the crowd about his new inventions that would be in the market over the next year, especially the ones with prototypes for people to try while at the Expo.

There was plenty of food and drinks at the Expo and as one of Tony's VIP guests, Steve did not have to pay for any of it. He returned to the table in the corner where Evelynn was sitting with a Cosmo and a gin and tonic. She thanked him for her drink and took a sip of the pink liquid. "So, which do you like better? The Expo run by Tony or the Expo run by Howard?"

"They both have their appeals," Steve said diplomatically. "The technology was less overwhelming at Howard's, but I definitely didn't have someone like you with me then." Before Evelynn could get offended by that phrase, Steve elaborated, "When Bucky and I went, it was for a double date back before the procedure. The girl Bucky set me up with was a dish, but she didn't want anything to do with me. She was far more interested in Howard Stark's charisma and I was far more interested in trying to enlist to help my country. So I guess Tony's Expo is more fun to say the least."

"What does 'she's a dish' mean?"

"You know …a pretty thing."

"Oh man, I'm glad that piece of slang fell out of popular usage," Evelynn giggled. "So did you dance with her at least before running off to enlist?"

Steve looked away. "No. Truth be told, I've never danced with anyone. I don't know how."

"What?" Evelynn sat in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Gals don't generally line up for a guy they might step on," Steve repeated the same logic he had told Peggy so many years ago.

"I get that, but I don't think your physique now would warrant that logic," she finished off her drink. "C'mon let's dance."

"I don't know how," Steve protested.

"Most people don't. As long as you're not doing the _sprinkler_ or anything absurd, you'll be fine." Evelynn noticed his confused look at the mention of the silly dance move. "Never mind. Just put your hands here," she placed his hands on her hips and snaked her own up his chest to rest behind his neck. "And I'll lead for now, but when you feel comfortable, you can lead."

Evelynn rested her head on Steve's chest as the music slowed. /_This was a nice distraction, thank you./_

"You're welcome," Steve responded verbally, not wanting her to read his mind because the thought-speech really did weird him out. "You know you're gonna be okay, right? You're an incredibly strong woman and you'll be able to bounce back."

"I know. It's just hard sometimes. I really do appreciate all of your help. I know Fury really wanted me here so he could have you keep an eye on me, not the other way around. I was pissed at first, but even though Nick Fury comes off as an ass, I do think he actually can be compassionate sometimes. He just compartmentalizes all of it so nobody's sure if he's being genuine or just completing protocol."

"You've helped me immensely too, Evelynn," Steve pulled a brand new phone out of his pocket. It was completely clear and paper thin—one of the prototypes that Tony was showcasing. "I broke 14 phones before you came and Tony had tried endlessly to help me with all of the electronics around the Tower. He tried for about 4 months and nothing. He's too much of a genius to deal with a soldier like me."

"Ha, don't let Tony hear you complimenting his genius-status. It's hard enough already to get his ego to fit through the doors."

Steve put the phone back in his pocket and pulled Evelynn closer to him. "And besides, I'm Captain America—I work best when I'm helping those around me."

"So chivalrous."

"You two made the front page," Tony tapped the glass of the countertop to reveal the New York Times on the screen. Sure enough, there was a picture of Evelynn and Steve dancing at the Expo and a second inset of Evelynn laughing at something Steve said. The headline read "_Sorry ladies, Cap's spoken for_". Evelynn giggled at how infuriated Tony was that _he_ wasn't on the front page. After all it was his Expo.

"Aw, poor Tony, are you upset that for once it's not all about you?"

"It's always all about me," he pouted and left the kitchen. "JARVIS get Pepper on the line."

"Of course, sir. Shall I warn her that you are in a bad mood?"

Tony glared up at the ceiling and then at Evelynn, whose forefingers were pressed against her temples as she smirked at him. "Not funny." And with that he left the room.

Evelynn glanced over the article. "Last night the annual Stark Expo played host to major corporations from around the world…blah blah blah… Amongst all of the CEOs presenting their prototypes for the future…blah blah…many celebrities graced the Expo with their presence." She hummed as she continued to skim over the article. "Captain Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, was in attendance of the Stark Expo being escorted by a beautiful mystery maiden."

"I do believe I was doing the escorting, not the other way around."

Evelynn smirked. "Soldier outta time," she shook her head and continued reading. "Sources say that the mystery maiden was seen leaving the Expo with Rogers and returning to the Stark Towers where the superhero currently resides. Blah blah blah…" Evelynn bust out laughing without warning. "I cannot believe this is on the front page and not in the gossip column! Listen to this last line! It's terrible! No wonder Tony is so upset about the front page! 'Sadly, it seems that Captain America is no longer New York's most eligible bachelor.' They think we're dating! And it was considered front page material!"

"Are we not?"

His question sobered her from her laughter. "Not dating or not front page material?"

"Dating."

She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I assumed not because you're from the 40s and I figured that if you wanted to date me then you would ask me out properly or something."

Steve flashed a smile at her. "Well then, Evelynn, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

"Even though I'm a freak?"

"Evelynn," he cooed her name. "I don't think that of you and neither should you." He stepped closer to her, placing a hand on her cheek. Slowly he kissed her chastely on the lips.

**_Fin._**

**_[a/n Hope you enjoyed it.]_**


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